Carsten Amelunxen

MOFLON: a standard-compliant metamodeling framework with graph transformations

The crucial point in Model Driven Architecture (MDA) is that software and system development are based on abstract models that are successively transformed into more specific models, ideally resulting in the desired system. To this end, developers must be enabled to model different aspects like structure, behavior, consistency constraints of the system. This results in a variety of related models, which in turn need tool support on the metalevel. However, there is a lack of tools offering uniform support for metamodel definition, analysis, transformation, and integration. In this paper we present the metamodeling framework MOFLON that addresses these issues by bringing together the latest OMG standards with graph transformations and their formal semantics. MOFLON provides a combination of visual and textual notations and offers powerful modularization concepts. Using MOFLON, developers can generate code for specific tools needed to perform the desired modeling tasks.

Metamodel-based tool integration with moflon

Nowadays, a typical software development process involves many developers which participate in the development process by using a wide variety of development tools. As a consequence, the data representing the project as a whole is distributed over different development tools. For the purpose of consistency, maintainability, and traceability it is an essential task to be aware of the relationships between semantic equivalent data in different tool repositories. The real-time systems Lab at the Technische Universitat Darmstadt performs research in the area of tool and metamodel integration to provide solutions to overcome this gap. In this demonstration we present the metamodeling framework MOFLON that addresses these issues by bringing together the latest OMG standards with graph transformations and triple graph grammars. Using MOFLON, developers can generate code for specific tools needed to perform analysis and transformation on one development tool or to incrementally integrate data of different modeling tools.

Checking and Enforcement of Modeling Guidelines with Graph Transformations

In the automotive industry, the model driven development of software for embedded controller units evolves to become the standard paradigm. In this domain, the development is based on executable block diagrams and StateCharts which are provided by the commonly used tool MATLAB Simulink/Stateflow. Huge catalogues with hundreds of modeling guidelines have already been developed to increase the quality of models and ensure the safety and reliability of the generated code. Checking these guidelines and eliminating detected violations manually during audits is a tremendous amount of boring work. In this paper, we show how graph transformations can be used to automate the process of guideline checking and the execution of repair actions. Based on our experiences in an industrial context, we discuss the pros and cons of graph transformations compared to other specification approaches and we finally present a proposal how to combine graph transformations with other modeling paradigms as the most promising approach.

Formalising model transformation rules for UML/MOF 2

Model-driven software development, todays state-of-the-art approach to the design of software, can be applied in various domains and thus demands a variety of domain-specific modelling languages. The specification of a domain-specific modelling languages syntax and semantics can in turn be specified based on models, which represent the approach of metamodelling as a special form of language engineering. The latest version of the unified modelling language 2 (UML 2) and its subset the meta object facility 2 (MOF 2) provide sufficient support for metamodelling, a modelling languages abstract syntax. Furthermore, based on the description of the abstract syntax, a languages static semantics can simply be specified by the object constraint language (OCL) as UML/MOFs natural constraint language, whereas the description of an MOF compliant languages dynamic semantics is still not covered. The authors try to close this gap by integrating MOF/OCL with graph transformations for the specification of dynamic aspects of modelling languages and tools. The formalisation of such an integration is non-trivial because of the fact that UML/MOF 2 offer a rather unusual and sophisticated association concept (graph model). Although there are many approaches, which formalise graph transformations in general and first approaches that offer a precise specification of the semantics of the association concepts of UML/MOF 2, there is still a lack in bringing both together. Here, the authors close this gap by formalising graph transformations that work on a UML/MOF 2 compatible graph model.

Generic and reflective graph transformations for the checking and enforcement of modeling guidelines

In the automotive industry, the model driven development of software, today considered as the standard paradigm, is generally based on the use of the tool MATLAB Simulink/Stateflow. To increase the quality, the reliability, and the efficiency of the models and the generated code, checking and elimination of detected guideline violations defined in huge catalogues has become an essential task in the development process. It represents such a tremendous amount of boring work that it must necessarily be automated. In the past we have shown that graph transformation tools like Fujaba/MOFLON allow for the specification of single modeling guidelines on a very high level of abstraction and that guideline checking tools can be generated from these specifications easily. Unfortunately, graph transformation languages do not offer appropriate concepts for reuse of specification fragments - a MUST, when we deal with hundreds of guidelines. As a consequence we present an extension of MOFLON that supports the definition of generic rewrite rules and combines them with the reflective programming mechanisms of Java and the model repository interface standard JMI.

Generic and reflective graph transformations for checking and enforcement of modeling guidelines

In the automotive industry, the model driven development of software, today considered as the standard paradigm, is generally based on the use of the tool MATLAB Simulink/Stateflow. To increase the quality, the reliability, and the efficiency of the models and the generated code, checking and elimination of detected guideline violations defined in huge catalogues has become an essential task in the development process. It represents such a tremendous amount of boring work that it must necessarily be automated. In the past we have shown that graph transformation tools like Fujaba/MOFLON allow for the specification of single modeling guidelines on a very high level of abstraction and that guideline checking tools can be generated from these specifications easily. Unfortunately, graph transformation languages do not offer appropriate concepts for reuse of specification fragments - a MUST, when we deal with hundreds of guidelines. As a consequence we present an extension of MOFLON that supports the definition of generic rewrite rules and combines them with the reflective programming mechanisms of Java and the model repository interface standard JMI.

MOSL: Composing a Visual Language for a Metamodeling Framework

As an increasing number of industrial software development projects adopt model-driven development technologies, there is an emerging need for analysis, transformation, and integration of models. In this paper, we propose MOSL, an integrated specification language composed of MOF 2.0, OCL 2.0, Fujaba SDM, and Triple Graph Grammars as a suitable metamodeling and specification language. This language is the basis of the MOFLON metamodeling framework, which is developed at our department

Metamodeling with MOFLON

The metamodeling tool MOFLON provides an integrated approach for the specification of a modeling languages abstract syntax, static and dynamic semantics especially for means of tool integration and further applications.

Creating Well-Structured Specifications in MOFLON

Considering the growing popularity of model-based development, specifications become more complex. As a consequence, graph-based modeling tools have to take measures to handle this complexity. In this paper, we present the metamodeling environment MOFLON which has been developed on top of the FUJABA Toolsuite during the last few years at our department. We focus one of MOFLONs strongest advantages, i.e. the realization of the abstraction and modularization features introduced by the recent UML 2.0 Infrastructure specification. The new concept of package merge allows to reuse and refine existing models without modifying the original. Subset and redefinition relationships become useful tools to refine associations due to the automatic propagation mechanism generated by the MOFLON code generator. We show how the user can organize large specifications using these concepts and how they effect graph transformation rules and code generation.